Product placement is where it’s at, especially for skittish marketing managers who worry about getting nailed by the FDA for running afoul of promotional rules. What better way to avoid warnings letters, bad publicity and trouble on the job than by allowing a pill to figure into an episode of a hot TV show?

Consider this: There were 337 visual or audio mentions of prescription drug brands in 2006, according to Nielsen Product Placement. That’s up from 231 in 2005. The length of those occurrences also increased, from 607 seconds in 2005 to 1,548 seconds last year.

The FDA has never taken a position on product placement, as Jim Edwards points out in BrandWeek. The closest the agency has come is to allow so-called “reminder” ads in which only the name of the drug brand is mentioned and no medical claims are made.

Of course, the number of placements is likely to escalate. Prescription drugs are, increasingly, part of the culture and TV producers, after all, want their shows to reflect - and create - culture. So it stands to reason only more drugs - and scenes discussing their usage - will show up on air. And unless a drugmaker has to pay for the priviliege, which is unlikely, that’s got to be cheaper than underwriting Madison Avenue.

So the next time Tony Soprano gets depressed, don’t be surprised if Dr. Melfi prescribes Eli Lilly’s Cymbalta. Why not Prozac? Fuggedabotit, pal. That lost patent protection awhile ago.

[tags]Advertising[/tags]